HP Laptops

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Joe Matt

You don't need Norton, better free options such as Zone Alarm

Don't use that.

And for Word, there's always Open Office.

The only HP laptop I've had experience with indeed had quite poor battery life and the power connector broke off the motherboard, but it was abused.

[Ashley Weed]

Unless you have a highly specific reason to have a laptop, I do not recommend one. You may be thinking that you want to have the mobility and ease of the laptop. However, I would much rather recommend someone putting money into a great set-up for a custom desktop. I have never went into one building at school that did not have 30-50 computers in at least one lab. A very small, mobile word processor may be nice in the future, but for your first big investment getting the most for your money should be key.

To speak specifically on the laptops, I have used them for many years now as my primary machine, and have yet to find one that surpasses another one. Each one has a quality or two that you may like over another one. Don't be afraid to go to a store and get a feel for several different brands. I currently run the zd7000, and just like the replacement zd8000, it is a beast of a machine.

[edit] As for software, I received Office Enterprise and Norton Corporate for free. A long list of additional software was available to students for around $6. [/edit]

[lukevanoort]

I have never used a HP laptop, but I've owned/used many HP desktops. Based on those experences, I'll say avoid HP like the plague, they break and have poor internal designs.(It took me almost an hour to put new RAM into a HP desktop) As for the specs, again, avoid Celerons like the plague, they're super slow, and don't have the power benefits of the specialized laptop processors. AMD tends to have good power efficiency, and the intel Pentium M and Core Duos are very respectable laptob processors too.

[Ryan Dognaux]

First of all, make sure that what you need is a laptop. Because for the most part, what you see is what you get with them. Compared to a desktop PC, they're incredibly hard to upgrade or even fix. Desktop PC components are much easier to find compared to laptop parts.

That being said, if you want something that doesn't cost a ton of money but still packs a punch, I'd go with an IBM Thinkpad. I don't like HP, especially since the merger with Compaq. I would resonate what others have said - that processor isn't going to do it for you. 512MB of RAM should be fine for any practical applications. I'd just definitely look into getting a decent processor, you'll be kicking yourself later if you don't.

Really, if I were going to get a laptop, I'd be looking into portability and wireless capabilities. I'd go for something around 12 inches just because small laptops rock the house

[Kristian Calhoun]

Originally Posted by lukevanoort

I have never used a HP laptop, but I've owned/used many HP desktops. Based on those experences, I'll say avoid HP like the plague, they break and have poor internal designs.(It took me almost an hour to put new RAM into a HP desktop) As for the specs, again, avoid Celerons like the plague, they're super slow, and don't have the power benefits of the specialized laptop processors. AMD tends to have good power efficiency, and the intel Pentium M and Core Duos are very respectable laptob processors too.

I too have never used an HP laptop, but have had very good experiences with their desktops. Our first family computer was an HP, but due to lack of virus protection after the free trial ran out, we got a virus, and had to get it rebuilt, so it's no longer an HP.

However, the desktop I use currently, which was bought this past December, is an HP and I love it. It does have an AMD 3700+ processor, and is always cool, quiet, fast, and efficient. I have little need to upgrade any internal parts, since it's fairly new. Also, HP has excellent customer service support. My hp mouse was spazzing out on me, so I called them up, they said that they'd send me a new one, and I received it in less than 2 days. So while I cannot speak about their laptops, HP provides good quality products and customer service, and AMD makes great processors.

[sciguy125]

My general recommendations about laptops:
- Don't get a Celeron, the extra ~$150 for a Pentium M is worth it. You'll get better performance and better battery life. The Pentium M has throttling, so it can slow itself down if it's under low load and subsequently use less power.
- Even if you don't think so now, size will be important to you. If you want, go to a store and check out the laptops they have to see what size you like.
- The screen is also important. I love widescreen. I can open up a bunch of windows and have plenty of room to work. Of course, your usage might be different from mine, so it might not be of much use to you. As for "truebright" (different manufacturers have different names for it), it's a preference. I'll admit that it makes the screen look better, but I don't like the reflections. Without it, however, you get general glare (like a haze) instead.
- You should also decide if performance or construction is more important to you. For computers in the same price range, you generally have a choice between better performance or better construction. IBM Thinkpads are rock solid. You can drop them and not have too much damage. Dell's on the other hand are garbage. I've had my Inspiron 630m for a little over two months and it's already suffered some cosmetic damage. I also opened it up earlier today to tighten some loose screws. Performance-wise, however, you just can't beat it.

[Beth Sweet]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I went to CompUSA today and got a new laptop. I got the Pentium thing and pretty much everything else that was on the other list

I only got the 6 battery, but I'll probably go back and get the 12 once I get my refund (I get $50 just for buying a computer! yay!)

Thanks again!

[technoL]

I just got an HP Laptop today from CompUSA also...AWESOME sale. So far, it seems great, except for the fact that I still have to transfer about 40 gigs of stuff from my old emachines desktop (it was seriously about time for something new). I tried out the built-in webcam and it seems okay, not excellent, but it'll do. I'm loving the size also.

[John Gutmann]

Originally Posted by lukevanoort

avoid Celerons like the plague

I am running a Celeron D in my desktop at the stock 2.8ghz and yes it may be the bottom of the barrel but it is by far no where close to being slow. I have 384 MB of ram in the system and it will run inventor 10 perfectly. I have never had a problem.